Ohio - Part 1

My last post I told you about my trip to Cleveland. What I didn't tell you is that months before I even started my business, John's entire family had been planning a trip to Ohio for our nephew's baptism. His baptism was scheduled for the weekend after my convention. John wasn't working at the time, so he and Joseph actually flew out two days before me. Both of our tickets were just one way.

On Sunday they picked me up in Cleveland and we went to church and then went about 20 minutes outside of Cleveland to visit Historic Kirtland.

We really enjoyed our visit there. It was my second visit. John has been lots of times because Kirtland was part of his mission. The family that we went around on the tour with had also just come from the ACN convention. Our favorite part of the tour was the ashery.

It was incredible to consider that those people worked in there, dressed in their cotton and wool long sleeved clothing, wearing heavy leather aprons, keeping huge fires going all day long, working inside the same building with those fires, along with the humidity and heat that is part of the weather there already. We were really hot in there with only the building and the heat and humidity of the day! I can't imagine how they survived their work. Anyway... after the sister missionary described to us the process of making potash and pearlash, she pointed out that the Lord is able to do the same thing with us. We give what we have, which may be so insignificant, like ashes, and He takes us through a refining process and is able to create something that is valuable, extremely useful and in high demand. I love being refined by the Lord!

aren't those sunflowers beautiful!?

Newel K. Whitney store

As we made the three hour drive from Kirtland back to John's sister's home we drove through several rainstorms like I have never seen before in my life!! I couldn't believe the amount of water on the windshield as we drove. So many people would just pull over to the side of the road to wait out the storm. It was like having the contents of a swimming pool dumped on your windshield all at once. There was no way the wipers could keep our view clear for even a second. It really was amazing. We drove through most of the way, only stopping once to wait for a bit.

We spent the next week hanging out with John's family. We stayed with his sister Melissa and her family of 6. Another one of his sisters and her family of 7 were there as well. Joseph had a blast playing outside and finally overcame his uncomfortableness with walking on grass and uneven surfaces.

One day that week we all took an outing to Dayton and visited the Cox Arboretum.

They had a butterfly house there, making for a great opportunity to take some cool butterfly photos. (You gotta click on these and look at the detail in the butterflies themselves.)

There was also a little hedge maze that the kids played in forever, trying to find their way out.

We enjoyed watching the turtles and fish in the pond and even saw a momma duck with her little ducklings.

We ate our lunch there and then headed out to the National Air Force Museum for a while.

The size of some of that aircraft was pretty mind-boggling. I thought the coolest craft there was the B-2 stealth bomber.

Joseph enjoyed walking through a little plane and really lost it when he couldn't go through more than twice.

The rest of John's family arrived by caravan on Friday, filling the house up to 27 people.

Joseph and his cousin Jacob (who is 7 months younger) with their Grandma Humphries

Kristi's twins Mary & Elizabeth (3 months younger than Joseph)

It was really fun to all be together and support Alden for his baptism on Saturday. Later that night we all went to a Mudhens baseball game.

They lost, and by a lot. The end of the last inning was exciting when a couple of balls were consecutively hit towards the area where we were sitting. And after the game there were fireworks and Joseph was absolutely mesmerized. It was sure fun to watch his cute little face totally in awe at the sky.

... to be continued.

Cleveland

Good grief. Remember how I said I've got so much stuff to blog about? I still do... I've just been so busy! It's hard to get them out! Well, so here's another one.

On June 24th, I flew out to Cleveland, Ohio on a red eye flight. I spent the next three days at an international convention for my company receiving training for my business. Our convention was in the Quicken Loans Arena where the Calves play. The place was packed and full of high, positive energy.

Along with receiving training from the top leaders in the company and the amazing owners and founders of the company, we also had the pleasure of hearing Andy Andrews, author of The Traveler's Gift.

It was such an impactful weekend, full of fantastic training for my business and success training for life in general. My big epiphany came from a quiet voice spoken straight to my heart, not necessarily directly tied to anything I was hearing the presenters talk about. It was part of this quote, one of my favorites, by Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I realized that ever since I had began my business in January, that I was playing small. I was afraid of succeeding fully because I was worried about making someone feel insecure around me. I realized that my playing small was not serving my family. I realized that my playing small to help someone else stay in a comfort zone was not being loving, but being fearful. I realized I wanted to change. And so I made a choice. And I've stuck to it. It was a small victory breakthrough moment for me. I am grateful for it and for the subsequent events that have occurred as a result of my choice, the largest being that I feel closer with and more united with my sweet husband.

One of those families

I'll spare you a picture on this one...

I remember being younger... high school or college... and hearing tell about a family who had no qualms about being in the nude around each other. That seemed so absolutely foreign to me when I heard it that I couldn't even fathom it.

I find myself sometimes thinking though, that I can totally see us becoming one of those families. Granted, my son is only two, but I keep fast forwarding in my mind and think, it really would be a lot easier if that's just how we did it around here.

Well, if it ever does pan out that way, it's our immediate family only. Sorry. You won't be invited. You'll just know why it takes us a little longer to answer the door.

Let me tell you what I love...

I love family history. I absolutely love discovering and reading stories of my ancestors and their life's experiences. I love dreaming about what they thought, what they felt, what they dreamt. I love the realization that they are a part of me. Their blood runs in my veins. I love what I learn about myself when I dig into the history of my ancestors. I love remembering and honoring. I love that we are connected as a family through generations of time. I love creating my own family history every day I'm alive. I love sharing this love with my family.

These pictures are from Memorial Day when we visited the Beaver, Utah cemetery and hunted down the headstones of my great great great great grandparents Charles and Eleanor Willden.*

Both born in Yorkshire, England, they married in 1833 and were baptized by Mormon missionaries a few months apart from each other in 1843. Charles worked as a laborer in the steel mills. In October 1849 Charles and Eleanor took their family to Liverpool and took passage on the ship, Zetland. They arrived in New Orleans the day before Christmas with only one farthing and a few hundred pounds of oatmeal. They sold part to help them get tickets up to St. Louis. They stayed there for 3 months then took a steamer to Council Bluffs, Iowa. There they bought a farm of 50-60 acres with two houses on it for $20.

On June 2, 1852 they heeded Brigham Young's call to gather to Utah and left their homestead. They traveled across the plains in the 3rd company of Captain Thomas C.D. Howell and arrived in Salt Lake City on September 13, 1852. They stayed for 4 weeks and it appears that his reputation as a steel refiner had preceded him for Brigham Young had plans to put his skills to use in commencing the steel trade work in Cedar City. The family left on October 11 and headed south. They brought with them the first sheep into Iron County. They lived and worked to make the iron mission successful, but by 1859 it was deemed a failure.

The family chose to move and settle on land southeast of Beaver that they had passed years before as they had traveled south. Their place became known as Willden's Fort at Cove Creek, which is now known as Cove Fort. In the fall of 1865 they moved again and settled in Beaver. Eleanor was artistically inclined, a beautiful singer and dramatist. All four of her sons played the violin. Charles had the opportunity, at 63 years old, to return to his homeland as a missionary for a few months. When the St. George Temple was dedicated in 1877, Charles and Eleanor made the trip a few times to perform work for their ancestors. Charles died from a sudden stroke in 1883 at 77 years old. Eleanor passed away 10 years later and was laid to rest beside her husband. Charles and Eleanor left a legacy for their descendants of faith, obedience, love and service. They did the best they knew how to with what they were given in their lives and I am proud to be one of their descendants.

*Note: for my family reading this, here's the ancestry line: me, daughter of Lauren Ball, who is the son of Rulon Ball, who is the son of Leona Steele Conder, who is the daughter of Tryphena Willden Steele, who is the daughter of Charles Willden Jr, who is the son of Charles & Eleanor Willden.